Acting PM: Saith is not dying

ACTING Prime Minister Joan Yuille-Williams yesterday dismissed charges by Senate Opposition Leader Wade Mark that gross inefficiency in the local health sector nearly killed Public Administra-tion Minister Dr Lenny Saith. Speaking during debate in the Senate and drawing reference to the recent death of Clerk of the Senate Dawn Dolly (which is now the subject of a coroner’s inquest), Mark declared that too many people were admitted to hospitals in TT for simple operations and end up dying instead. Describing the state of local hospitals today as “a national scandal,” the UNC chairman claimed that Saith “almost perished” because of  inefficiencies in the health sector.

However, Yuille-Williams dismissed Mark’s utterances about Saith during the tea break. She told Newsday Saith was currently undergoing treatment at a hospital in Syracuse, New York. The acting Prime Minister said she communicated with Saith yesterday and his recuperation was going well.  Saith was warded at the Eric Williams Medical Complex last week for illnesses related to a kidney ailment. He was examined by two medical specialists and it was decided that he sought treatment overseas.  The minister is expected to be out of the country for at least one week. Quoting from a United Nations Development Pro-gramme (UNDP) report released in June, Mark alleged that maternal death rates in TT had reached alarming proportions.

Accor-ding to Mark, the report states that in TT there were 160 maternal deaths per 1,000 live births in 2003, while the figure for Cuba was only 33. Mark said Health Minister John Rahael must tell the population why this was happening in the health sector. Referring to a December 2003 Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) report about maternal and infant mortality in TT in 2002, Mark said there were great discrepancies in the recording of maternal and infant deaths. The UNC chairman said given these factors and deficiencies at the registrars in many public hospitals, the figures which the Central Statistical Office (CSO) has about live births and deaths could be badly flawed. “A child has no value in this land? Why are our women dying just to bring life into this world?” he asked.